1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device for mounting appliances in a public telephone booth and more particularly to a device for mounting a telecommunications device for the deaf in a telephone booth.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Deaf and hearing impaired people are unable to use standard telephones for communication unless they and the party with whom they are communicating both have a telecommunications device for the deaf ("TDD"). TDD's typically have a cradle for receiving a telephne handset, a keyboard for typing in outgoing messages, a means for converting typed messages to signals which can be transmitted over telephone lines and a means for converting signals received over telephone lines to a visual display. Thus, TDDs are often fairly large in size and are too cumbersome to make portability practicable. Therefore, TDDs are typically used only in the home or office environment. Because it is not practical for a deaf or hearing impaired person to carry TDDs around with them, the deaf and hearing impaired are essentially denied access to public telephone booths.
The inventor is unaware of any prior art which discloses a TDD mounted in a public telephone booth. However the inventor is aware of two U.S. Patents which disclose public telephone booths with devices therein for holding telephone directories. These patents are Chambers (U.S. Pat. No. 2,982,593 issued May 2, 1961) and Hickman et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,323,290 issued Apr. 6, 1982).
Chambers discloses a telephone booth with an enclosure therein to store and protect a telephone directory which is secured to the telephone booth to prevent theft or misplacement. Chambers secures the directory to the phone booth with a cable or wire unlike the present invention which uses a means for sliding and pivoting the TDD into its operation position. Chambers does not appear to teach or suggest storing a TDD in a public telephone booth.
Hickman et al. discloses a telephone enclosure with a directory holder which can be rotated from a closed position to an open position. Hickman et al. does not appear to teach or suggest storing a TDD in a public telephone booth.